I followed the Gouda recipe from the 200 Easy Homemade Cheese recipes book by Debra Amrein-Boyes pg 186.
This was my second attempt, but there has been a lot of reading since the first attempt.
The first batch turned out pretty dry and pretty salty. Instead of going by time, I did the floc/multiplier thing - using 3x.
Temps were pretty close.
The big deal was using pH papers, which is really pretty inaccurate.
I attached a picture for your enjoyment. It is time for a pH meter for sure!
It is currently pressing and looking pretty good!
Since that book doesn't have pH markers, how did you decide what to do when?
I use that recipe for Gouda all the time, following the recipe, using times & temps, no floc method, no pH, and the Gouda turns out lovely every time.
I followed the book and took the pH measurements at each logical point. The recipe says wait 30 min then cut curd. I checked for floc using the spinning bowl method and 3x. That turned out to be 33 min. I collected pH more out of curiosity and to see of the strips were worth using. They aren't.
Quote from: knipknup on April 22, 2012, 12:18:05 AM
I attached a picture for your enjoyment.
Hey, shadow puppets! Fun stuff! It looks like a T-Rex. :)
-Boofer-
Knipknup, I have to agree with MrsKK. I know a lot of people here on the forum use PH meters, but personally I don't feel the need to use one when I'm making Gouda-like cheeses. I live here near the city of Gouda and I buy my milk from a cheesefarm where they produce quite a lot of different Gouda's, from the 1 kilo baby Gouda up to the 16 kilogram (35 lbs) wheels that will age for about 1 year, with the addition of a variety of herbs and without any additions. And believe me, no PH meters involved. Artisan cheese does vary in taste from batch to batch, because the volumes are not exactly the same, nor is the temperature, nor is the milk, due to differences in season and food the cows get. Even in the small batches we make, it is difficult and almost impossible to measure the amounts of culture, rennet etc. exactly the way the recipe perscribes.
My goal isn't to get consistent results from batch to batch, but to better understand what is going on during the process.
I made a cheddar before reading very much. I cut the curd larger than I should have in my opinion (1"), pressed with too little weight and may have waited too long to cut the curd. It was a sloppy block and is finally weeping less.
I was confused about floc time and multipliers, but using the method this time really helped me get a grip on the concept. I still don't have a grip on how pH changes yet.
I'm sure there will be a day that I don't care about the numbers. Meanwhile, I'm just learning.
The block weighed in at 1lb 14.8oz. I'm pretty happy with that. It's currently brining.
Everyone has to start somewhere. Traking the numbers might help you understand what's going on. There are other posts with ph readings allong the way that you might be able to compare with. Good luck. It looks good so far.
Looks good, knipknup.
We all started somewhere close to where you are now. Observe what's going on when you're making a cheese. Take notes so that later on when your cheese finally ages out and you cut it, you have some reasoning for what went right and what went terribly, terribly wrong (yes, been there...and it's painful :().
There are clues, tips, and advice in the forum that help to make your life easier and the cheese you make better. I'm no expert, but here are a few highlights in case you haven't already come across them:
- Sanitation is important. Some folks boil. Some use Star San. Some use a mild bleach solution.
- I boil my curd-cutting knife, skimmer, and long whisk in the pot that my milk will be in. That way everything is sterilized from the start.
- Everything else gets sprayed with Star San.
- Clean your work surfaces before you begin.
- Limit access to the cheese making area...no pets allowed...close the windows and doors to avoid something carried on a breeze.
- When pressing, keep the curds warm.
- They stay warm for me because I use a double boiler and that water jacket holds its heat for a long time.
- Another alternative is to use a seed germination mat (thanks, Sailor) wrapped around the pot.
- To get a better knit of the curds, press in the pot and/or under warm whey.
- Find a good recipe and follow it.
- Timing is important. Time to add the rennet. Time to cut the curd. Time needed to brine (don't overbrine).
- Don't put your milk on the heat or put your culture in and then go do something else.
- Don't bake on the same day you're making cheese. The yeast involved may take up residence in your cheese...not a good thing.
- Use the correct amount of culture, rennet, and salt.
- Too much culture can overacidify.
- Too little culture may not acidify quickly enough leaving the milk open to possible unwanted bacterial infection.
- Too much rennet may cause bitterness.
- Too little rennet may not coagulate the milk or do it very quickly.
- Too much salt is bad for your heart, makes the cheese inedible, and may inhibit proper ripening.
- Too little salt may make for a bland cheese and may not protect the new cheese from unwanted bacterial infections.
- Press with the correct amount of weight, psi, kg/cm2, pounds, kilograms, kilopascals, bar.
There is lots of information about what to do and how to do it. Searching and finding all the information you need to do the cheese making "job"
well can be a burden. If you see that someone has made a dozen iterations of the same cheese style (A nod to you, Jeff ;)), perhaps they have a fairly solid idea of what works. Use their recipe or ask them about a particular issue. The saying goes: "Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success".
If you've messed up a particular cheese make, it may still be usable in cooking. Learn from it and apply what you've learned in the next cheese you make. Repetition does help a lot (ask, Jeff :)).
This thread isn't directed strictly at you, knipknup. I noticed over the weekend that quite a few new members joined. I thought (and hoped) that they might be helped by my verbosity. 8)
-Boofer-
Great tips Boofer. Thanks and a cheese to you!
Very good set of tips there Boofer. A cheese to you!
Oh, and remember, a lot of cheeses involve very similar processes (i.e. finding the floc point, cutting the curd, a controlled raise of temperature, stirring or jiggling the curds, etc). So repetition of technique is where you will do most of your learning at first and will improve all the cheeses you make. Once you've got good technique, then repeating (and tweaking) a particular cheese or two will help you improve them specificially as you will be able to tweak the make procedure to suit your tastes. Learning about the general technique first will, I think anyway, help you to understand what each bit of the process does to enable you to do those cheese specific tweaks. I could, and have been known to be, wrong.
- Jeff
Quote from: JeffHamm on April 23, 2012, 05:34:20 PM
I could, and have been known to be, wrong.
No, Jeff, I think you're wrong there. ::)
Thanks for the cheeses guys. What a thrill! 8)
-Boofer-
Quote from: Boofer on April 24, 2012, 04:27:15 AM
Quote from: JeffHamm on April 23, 2012, 05:34:20 PM
I could, and have been known to be, wrong.
No, Jeff, I think you're wrong there. ::)
-Boofer-
See, now that makes it twice when I thought I was wrong when I was right. I must stop making this same mistake over and over!
- Jeff
After about 5 weeks of aging (vac packed), I cut this one to see the progress. Then I vac'd it back up and will let it sit more.
It is pretty sticky as you can see from the photo. It has a great flavor, though the rind is bland compared to the paste in the middle. I'm happy with it so far.
5 weeks is very young for a gouda and it looks very wet yet. I like to wait at least 6 months for a bagged gouda but it is fantastic after 12 month or more! I have never seen such a white cheese. Did you use cows milk?
Yes, this is whole cows milk. Actually, all three that I've done like this so far, are this white.
I have a decent source for goat's milk, but not sheep. The goat milk is pretty expensive though $12/gal.
I have some local milk source research to do still.
Try to forget about it for a couple of months. Hard to do, I know. I have a Gouda we've been nibbling on for the past month - it was made in early November so is seven months now and is absolutely fantastic. I can only imagine what a 12 month would taste like. I've got to find more time for making cheese, but it's tough to do at this time of year. The only solution to keeping cheese long enough to age properly is to make so many cheeses you can't keep up with eating them all!
That was my theory with brewing beer. Many brewers start drinking it 10 days after brewing. Patience is the key to excellent brews, so to make it easier, brew more often. I am going to have to apply this to cheese as well.
This will require a larger fridge.